Participation Defines Inclusion

Assistive Technology: The Means to ParticipateListening to our clients over the years we have come to understand that they often define “disability” as the degree to which they cannot participate in their communities. They express that a disability does not reside solely in a person nor does it define the capacity of a person, but instead serves as a description of their lived experience in a community. We at ATHelp further assert that the experience of a disabling situation by an individual in a community is a direct result of a lack of foresight on behalf of those who built the community in which that person resides, plays, learns, or works. A person’s potential to participate cannot be readily defined (as education and medical professionals too often attempt to do), but it certainly can be revealed; and in this era of rapid technological advances, that which can be imagined just might be attained.

We believe that Assistive Technology (AT) tools and services afford greater access to electronic information, education, communication, employment, and leisure activities for individuals whose level of participation has been hindered by the environment and defined as a disability. ATHelp.org offers support to those individuals, service professionals, clinicians, and even vendors of technology products who wish to discover the potential of AT. This website aims to provide information and guidance to all who might benefit from use of assistive technologies.